In early
1994, Atari and Virtuality teamed up to make a home-based VR system to
take game players beyond a whole new arena of gaming entertainment. Appearing
later in 1995 the first VR headset -(Red unit)- was a low resolution headset
and Atari officials reviewed the hardware-they were not satisfied with
the quality. With this in mind, Virtuality went back to revise and upgrade
the headset to meet Atari's demand. While this happened, Atari had plans
to exit the video game market and merge with "JTS" while Virtuality still
hard at work made the Blue headset that used a higher resolution display
and fixed other minor problems as well as the voice communication and extra
IPD adjustments. As it stands, Atari severed ties with Virtuality.
The company received not a penny for the work they did which is why I believe
this led Virtuality out of business (into other hands anyhow).However,
other rumors still exist such as Virtuality couldn't make a headset for
the targeted price Atari had wanted.

Two products
did happen to make use out of the JaguarVR HMD technology. The Philips
Scuba Visor and Takara Dynovisor were extremely close in relation to the
JagVR, only both the Scuba and Dynovisor were upgraded with contrast/ipd
controls under the headset. Only 1 game works for the headset w/tracking
on the Jaguar, Missile Command VR(3D). Both 3D and Virutal versions of
the game enable head tracking.(LEFT)
- 15-pin female communication port. Thiis port would allow you to plug
a HIGH DENSITY 15-pin male-to-male cable from the tracking unit to the
2nd port of the Jaguar system to allow for communication.A
high speed DSP chip within the tracker calculates the position of the HMD
and sends the correct code(s) to the Jaguar. Without the correct codes
(Being a SET#7 even and odd chipset) one can not use the headset in conjunction
with the Jaguar. JagCube has these codes copied!

(MIDDLE)
- This 25-pin female port allows for daata to be received from the HMD
and the Power, Video, and Audio signal to be transmitted into the headset.

(RIGHT)
- This 15-pin female port was designed for future use of a space joystick,
in which never made actual development but was extremely close to completion
as boards were produced to communicate with the VR Gun. A secondary board
would be hooked into the port, with one other port leading to the VR gun.
(Requiring 2 trackers, one for the HMD and one for the Space Joystick)

(SIDE
RIGHT) - There is a small black knob to control
the volume for the headset.Back of transmitter
showing the Jaguar logo (sensor)First
port to left is power supply for tracking unit (this also supplied the
power to the headset)Second
port-from left to right-, (empty) was to be used to ground the tracking
unit.Third
port , this is used to connect any Atari legend Composite or S-Video cable
for TV connection.Fourth
port(right end) was to be used connecting the cable from the A/V output
of the Jaguar.This is a
mock-up of what the final version would have looked like.The space
gun contains no internal electronics as the project was canceled before
completion of the gun.(A possibility
remains that it was however completed, but no proven facts have been displayed
from research.)Two triggers,
one you see, and another on top.A close-up
of the Blue VR Headset.The two red
domes contains one sensor board each (for the IR tracking)Unlike the
Red VR headset, the Blue headset did not have a red LED on top of the unit,
as to display power.Directly
underneath the headset is a tiny opening for the mic to transmit voice.The only
game that works with the Jaguar and Jaguar VR system-Missile Command 3D(VR)Although
a demo was shown of Zone Hunter running through the headset there is no
known code to existfor the Jaguar.
Alipine boards were discovered from Virtuality with only a "dead" battery.Any information
the boards contained had been lost. The proposed pack-in was to be Zone
Hunter.

**-Special thanks to JaguDome for use of Picture(s).**-Special thanks to Jeff's Jaguar Jungle for
use of Picture.

----Everything else originally scanned/shot/recorded
by and for AtariVision/JagCube-List of known problems, facts and differences
with Jaguar VR HMD/Tracker(RED and BLUE)-

(1)Problem with IPD was not fixed. -(RED unit
does have the IPD control but is internal, BLUE unit does have IPD control)
-(RED unit marked as an ATARI product, BLUE unit un-marked as an ATARI
product.)(2) Mic howlpound due to internal problems of circuits,..(later fixed
with replacing specific resistors/jumpers)
(3) RED HMD was Low Res; BLUE HMD was High Res.(4) Calibration feature was removed from final
Missile Command 3D(VR), which creates jerkness with various user(s).(5) Contrast/Backlight controls are not available
(which gives a dark, hard to see image on LCD).(6) Space Joystick is not known to work, no internal
circuits/no software to support it.(7) Weight of HMD is extremely too heavy to be
worn for a extended amount of time.
-(unless you enjoy stretch marks under your eyes? ;-)-(8) Smaller tracking unit (presumed mock-ups)
was to be used instead of the huge bulky tracking units we see/have now.(9) A clear path MUST remain between headset
and tracking unit, which would cause problems when using space joystick.
-(put your hand out to shoot something with gun-would block IR transmission-which
would interfere with tracking)-(10) 3 modes are available to the HMD (USA, PAL,
RGB??)(11) Internal MIC is not installed on neither
RED or BLUE headsets.(12) Current design is faulty for normal opertaion.
(Red face blocks IR transmission from base to headset, which casues loss
of control)